Quietly observational, this film is an updated travelogue of sorts, with views and impressions from along the Yangtze River in China. In structure and form, the film recalls the classics of the city symphony genre, especially Rain by Joris Ivens (1929). But this is a twenty-first-century vision, and as such, presents the inevitable tensions between the natural and man-made worlds. The river flows through a large city and on its shores, canals, and nearby streets, people go about their daily lives—they wash dishes, do laundry, catch fish, play and sing. This film continually goes off the beaten path, luxuriating in hypnotic imagery. The river itself is the central character, the stage for human activity, and is brought to life here with kinetic abstractions of reflected light.  TBW